Paul Podesta on for Evan Green
Anthony Hernandez on for Ashley Rodriguez
Kaylan Rumbo on for Robert Montovio

Following on from the morale boosting point against St Jospeh’s last time our United’s players were seeking to capitalise on a Lynx FC that had seemed very out of sorts in their last game out against Lions. Manolo welcomed back Robert and Ashley back into the first eleven. The former was back after a short injury lay off and the latter was back in midfield due to Aymen having to drop back into defence to cover the loss of Jason Pusey through injury. Paul Podesta also made a berth on the bench for the first time in 6 weeks after recovering from injury.

Pre-kickoff huddle!

Blustery levanter conditions faced all the 22 players at kick off with Lynx FC having the benefit of playing with the winds at their backs. It wasn’t long however before they were able to gain a more significant advantage. With United seeking to dominate the ball and get some passing game going Erin uncharacteristically dithered on the ball just outside our area. Lynx’s pacey forward, Kamara, was quick to spot this and rapidly closed down on Erin. Whether nerves or the fact that the game was only two minutes old, Erin was caught flat footed, lost possession and Kamara had rifled Lynx into a lead. United players and supporters were shell shocked at such an early set back but despite some dominance from the Yellows United soon took command of the match.

Dexter and Jamie Bosio were starting to impose themselves on the left side of midfield and gradually we began to push the Yellow and Black lines back. Dexter in particular was getting the best of the right back and began to put in some telling crosses. In one particular action Evan Green cut in front of Mosquera to latch onto a cross ball but tamely struck it with his weaker foot into the hands of a grateful Tellez in goal. Indeed special mention must go to man mountain Mosquera who was by far and away Lynx’s man of the match as he headed and batted away any ball we crossed into the box. As Mr Canepa called time on the first half United’s players could go into the dressing room happy that they could look forward to a second half with the wind at our backs and in our sails after a commanding fight back.

Players walk off at half time.

Manolo made two changes at half time that were to have a massive impact on the game. Podesta was introduced to combat the immense Mosquera and Anthony was brought on to bring his skill and poise to our attack. United dominated the half from the kick off with an effective pressing on Lynx’s rear guard players that forced them into a lot of unforced errors. Podesta was starting to win the physical battle with Mosquera and Robert was starting to feed on the second balls as a result. Yet it was from corners that United were going to be the most dangerous. Perez floated one in from the right that had Tellez flapping all over his goal and a resulting Hernandez corner from the left brought the equaliser.

Anthony floated in a peach of ball that almost drifted driectly into the goal. With Tellez struggling to get to the ball he was barley able to palm it out. Credit to the keeper to getting to it but the ball fell to Jamie Bosio who cannoned the ball into the back of the net for his third goal of the season and a deserved equaliser for a United team that were giving their all for the three points. Supporter, Vanessa Correa, was able to get the goal on video from the stands.

United continued to press after the restart with Lynx clearly affected by the goal. Another clear chance went begging when Anthony elected to try his luck from distance when he had free runners on either wing. Another chance went by the wayside when Lynx centre half, Hall, almost headed a Perez corner into his own net. Yet Lynx, with Mosquera at the fulcrum, weathered wave after wave of Red and White attacks (not a phrase we have used often this season!). Indeed Chino was largely a spectator for most for the second 45.

The game ultimately petered out as energy levels dropped on both sides. Having battled the elements and each other for 95 minutes both teams left the field with a point but United players knew they could have won all three. Attention now turns to Lions FC and perhaps the biggest game of the season next week. Kick off Saturday afternoon at 16:30!

Erin Barnett on for Paul Grech
Kaylan Rumbo on for Jason Pusey
Max Bothen on for Dexter Panzavechia

Tough game where 3rd faced off against 7th. St Joseph’s are carrying out a very good season and are on the brink of qualifying for European football. United come into the game after the sour tasting defeat to Mons Calpe last time out. Manolo hs reshuffled his pack once again with Victory and Grech coming into the starting XI, the latter making his first start for the club. Jason returns after serving a one match ban. Robert and Max Bothen both make the bench after suspension and injury respectively. Pishu was missing after reaching 5 yellows for the season last time out.

It has been an energising week for all involved with the club after the momentous news on Monday that the club had new owners. The technical staff was hoping that the buzz created mid week would rub off the players in this most hard of matches. The new owner sent a prematch message of encouragement to the staff.

St Joseph’s proved from the off why they sit 3rd in the table. A powerful midfield was eager to press our players and made sure our play makers had little time on the ball. Likewise Anthony was very closely watched by two Blue and White defenders at all times with often a third one assisting to close down spaces into which he could charge into.

Yet for all their possession around our box The Saints were not creating any real chances or causing Chino any undue headaches. United’s defensive ranks were holding firm and indeed always looking dangerous on the counter. Indeed the first meaningful ball into the box was delivered by Evan Green from the corner but Caballero was quick to head the ball away into touch. As the first half progressed Saints got more and more comfortable on the ball as United weathered the storm. Bosio, Victory and Aymen were immense in shielding the defence and even when they did get through Power and Pusey were equal to anything thrown at them. With Mr Warwick bringing proceedings to a close after the single minute of added on time United could be happy that Chino had not really been tested.

The ref brings the First Half to an end.

The second half was to have another tale as St Joseph’s really piled on the pressure against Chino’s goal. Though guilty of profligacy on three very clear occasions when shots were blasted over the bar, two clear opportunities stick in the mind. First it was Kaylan Rumbo who heroically cleared a ball off the line from a well taken free kick; hearts in mouths moment as Saints were seemingly taking the lead. Then it was Chino’s turn to earn the plaudits as he used all his feline ability to pounce on a ball that he crept behind him and seemed destined to hit the back of the net. Nerves were frayed to breaking point as the clock seemed to tick ever slower.

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Saints’ players were beginning to feel the frustration of so much possession but little to show for it. The began to accumulate bookings for diving and the play began to get somewhat aggressive with elbows and tackles flying in. In a rare foray forward man of the match (as voted by the supporters) Aymen Mouelhi was fed a ball by Anthony but a wild shot flew harmlessly past Robba’s goal. Aymen was to be in the wars again before the final whistle. With time up he was hounded by three Saints’ players and shoved off the ball. Something must have been said as the normally placid Tunisian moved towards the Saints player Enrique. The latter was eventually shown a yellow rapidly followed by another one as he protested right in Mr Warwick’s face. With time ebbing away United doggedly hung on for a most valuable point, and perhaps a turning of the a corner with Lady Luck who fickle nature had seemed to desert us in our last two games.

After the formalities were over Michel was keen to get to the pitch to see our Youth Divisions at work. He has already stressed the importance of the grassroots level of football in his press interviews and he spent a whole training sessions with our youth teams, from Pre Leagues to Under 11s. As the President introduced him to our Youth Coaches Michel stopped here and there to shake hands or give pointers to some star struck boys and girls. He certainly had caused a sensation if the avalanche of photograph and autograph requests at the end of the session is anything to go by.

The news broke around 14:30 on Tuesday. Gibraltar United had gone into partnership with 2 time Champions League winner Michel Salgado of Real Madrid and Blackburn Rovers fame and Italian, but Dubai based, banker Pablo Victor Dana. President Paul Collado hosted a press conference at the HQ if Turicum Private Bank who were also unveiled as the club’s main sponsor.

Paul, Michel and Pablo at the press conference.

Paul stressed the club’s ambition in moving forward and the partnership that has been established is primarily focused in creating an Academy and fostering Youth Football. He also highlighted the possibilities that would open for the Senior side to and the benefits that a partnership with Mr Salgado would bring at a sporting level through his contacts and know how.

Michel was also keen to stress how excited he was to be involved in the project indicating the strength of the Gibraltar United brand and he felt this was ‘the start of something great’. Mr Dana also stressed that the idea was not to ‘buy trophies’ but to earn them through hard work and grit; mirroring Michel’s career on the field of play.

Michel and Pablo being presented with their Gib Utd strips.

After some interviews with local media and press Michel took his leave to meet with both the Senior and Junior squads at Pitch No 2.

Certainly the news quickly set local twitter and international twitter feeds alight.

Jason Pusey was missing due to a suspension because of an accumulation of yellow cards. Both he and Robert Montovio should be back next week along with Max Bothen who has resumed training after a lengthy spell out with injury. Jason’s absence meant a reshuffle as Aymen moves back into defence while Pishu starts in midfield with Rumbo coming in as cover at right back.

United started the match the brightest of the two teams. The initial 10 minutes brought incisive forward play and clever interactions between Anthony and the support from the flanks from Dexter and Evan. Indeed Mons seemed somewhat perplexed at what was happening as Anthony drove the Red and White attacks forward. This initial impetus was rewarded by a Jamie Bosio goal on the 8th minute. Anthony floated in a ball from a free kick on the left side of the Mons area, the resulting clearance fell to Jamie on the penalty spot. Without hesitation he drove his shot past the keeper to give United the lead and our first goal in a while.

Nice to get on the scoresheet but shame for us not to take something from the game. We keep working hard to achieve our aim! 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/YOloEb72G8

Mons seemed rocked and two further chances followed. Anthony used a mixture of speed, power and skill to slide past two markers, into the area and sought the top corner. With Fraiz beaten the ball sailed just wide of the mark. More surprising was Aymen’s miss from a Perez crossed ball. He had a gilt edged chance to put us 2-0 up but send a shot wide that was almost impossible to miss. When another chance went begging shortly after supporters were wondering if Mons had been let off.

The Mons manager carried out a tactical reshuffle by putting the pacy Dos Santos into the full back position to counter Anthony, who was frankly making the defenders tremble with every charging run. This seemed to do the trick as Mons clawed their way into the game as Nuñez traded the ball for space as United’s lines compacted and began to weather the Mons storm; a storm that gave no real signs of danger as the first half petered out.

The second half however was to be different. Mons started just as United had and pushed hard from the kick off. As fatigue started to kick in so did a lack of concentration. A defensive mishap allowed Pibe to find himself with a golden chance to score. A striker of his quality did not give Chino a chance as he rifled his shot in. United tried to strike back, and with the introduction of Victory fresh legs to motor the midfield. Yet it was another individual mistake that gave Mons the lead as Di Piedi capitalised to smartly bury a crossed in ball in the smallest of spaces between the upright and Chino’s flailing hand. Aymen had another chance as he was now deployed as a centre forward and blasted a close range shot into the side netting. Despite a late surge Mons held out for three points that left a sour taste in the mouth.